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    Factors Influencing Mating and Oviposition of Black Soldier Flies in a Colony

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    27 views8 pages

    Factors Influencing Mating and Oviposition of Black Soldier Flies in A Colony

    Uploaded by

    Nguyen Trung Dai
    Factors Influencing Mating and Oviposition of Black Soldier Flies in a Colony

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Factors Influencing Mating and Oviposition of Black Soldier Flies (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in a Colony’ Jatfery K. Tombetin® and D. Craig Sheppard Department of Enomsogy, Calege of Agiouturl and Endonmentl Soenose, Univeaty of Georg, ‘iton Compu, PO, Box 748, Tilon, GA S1780-0748, USA “J Entomol. Sa $7(4) 345.882 (Oetber 2002) [Abstract Most information onthe black solder fly, Hermetiailucens (Lis limited ois use ‘8 biological contol and waste management agent. Lite is known about its mating and ‘oviposition actives. Latency from emergence to mating and oviposition for colony-reared black ‘solder fies placed in a 1.5 x 1.5 x 3 m nylon cage located In @ greenhouse was determined. Sixty-nine percent of mating occurred 2 d ater eclosion and 70% of oviposition 4 d after eclosion. Time of day and light intensity signfcanty corelated with mating ( = 0.49; P < 0.0001), while time of day, temperature, and humicty significantly corelated with oviposition (€ =0.56; P< 0.000). Latency ater emergence significant correlated wih mating * = 0.99: P< 0.0001) and oviposition (= 0.99; P < 0.0001). A second expariment was conducted to examine ovpostion preference ofthe back soldier. Adults were alowed to ovipostin Gaines villa house fy, Musca domestica L, larval media with and without S-d-ld black solder fy larvae. Based on sign non-paramalic Hes, numbers of o9g clutches deposited In each treatment were not significantly diferent Key Words Black soldier ly, Stratomyidae, Hermetiailucens(L.) Colonization of manure in poultry facilities by the black soldier fly, Hermetta llu- ‘cons (L.), can result in 94 to 100% suppression of the house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) and a 50% reduction in manure accumulation (Sheppard 1983). ‘Their prepupae also can be sell-harvested and used as a feed for livestock, such as ‘swine (Newon et al. 1977) and fish (Bondari and Sheppard 1981). The black soldier ly has a worldwide distribution in the tropics to warm temperate regions and is active in the southeastern United States from April through October. It will ovipost ina variety of decomposing materials, such as fruit, carion (James 1935), land manure (Tingle et al. 1975). Eggs are deposited along the edge of manure in poulty faclities (Sheppard 1983) and hatch after approximately 4 d when held at 27°C (Booth and Sheppard 1984). Larvae feed for about 2 wk before becoming pprepupae (Tombertin et al. 2002). Propupae migrate from the larval habitat to pupate (Sheppard et al. 1994), and adults emerge 2 wk later depending on environmental Conditions (Tombertin at al. 2002), Other than knowing emergent adult black soldier fies disperse into the area sur- rounding their pupation site (Axtell and Arends 1990) and that they will ek with males "RoceWved 27 September 2001; acoepted 31 March 2002 *Cument access Daariment of Blogal and Agricul Engineering Te wham offprint raqusts are tbe sderessed (maltorber Oitoncpespeochnat ot), 348 m6 J. Entomol. Sc. Vol 87, No.4 (2002) attempting to mate with females entering the aggregation site (Tomberlin and Shep ‘pard 2001) lite behavioral information has been documented. Furman et al. (1958) indicated that gravid adults were attracted to poultry manure containing conspecific larvae. Kemppinen (1998) attempted to address this hypothesis. However, her data, were inconclusive. “Tae objectives of this study were: (1) to determine time from emergence to mating ‘and oviposition for black soldier fies maintained in a colony, as woll as the environ ‘mental factors influencing these behaviors; (2) to determine if black soldier fies preferred to oviposit in media inoculated with or without solder fly larvae. Information recorded for both objectives is important for mass rearing the black soldier fly for biological control of fly pests and waste management in livestock and poultry facilities. Materials and Methods Factors influencing mating and oviposition. The experiment was replicated three times from February through June 2000. For each replicate, approximately 750 ‘newiy-emerged (<15 h old) adult black soldier flies from a colony maintained at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Tifton, GA, were released into an empty 1.5 x 1.5 x 3 m Lumite® screen (5.5 mesh per cm) cage (Bloquip® Products, Gardena, CA) located inside a 6 x 9.4 x 5 m greenhouse. Flies rested on the cage walls and were watered by two Aqua Cool? Fog Nozzles #WF4025 (Farm Tek®, Dyersville, 1A) that delivered 30 Lifh at 7 kglem, Environmental conditions and the number of pairs mating were recorded for 10 min periods at 1h intervals (time of day) from 0800 to 11800 h each day. Observations were initiated at adult release and terminated when ‘a complete day passed without observing mating and ovipositing. Light intensity was measured with a Basic Quantum Meter Model BQM® (Spectrum Technology Inc, Plainsfield, IL), while temperature and humidity were measured with a Hanna Hl '9161C® Portable Microprocessor Thermohygrometer (Hanna Instruments Inc, Woon- ‘socket, Ri), The Basic Quantum Meter measured the intensity, photosynthetic photon ‘ux (umol m”®s-*), of visible light (400 and 700 nm). All environmental readings were recorded inthe center of the cage approximately 30 om above the ground. Mating was defined as a male and female observed en copula. Level of oviposition was determined by recording the number of egg clutches: deposited during each interval between consecutive observations. In order to make this measurement, a 6-L white bucket containing 1 kg of saturated Gainesville house Aly larval diet (Hogsette 1985) was placed in the center of the cage on a 40-cm high ‘cement block for the duration of the experiment. Females oviposited in the flutes of {wo corrugated cardboard rolls (egg collecting units), measuring 2.54 cm diam x 4.cm length, taped to the inside of the bucket approximately 3 cm above the moist media. Each flute opening measured 2 x 8 mm. A flute containing more than 100 eggs was ‘considered an egg clutch. Cardboard rolls were replaced each observation and the ‘number of egg clutches recorded. A stepwise regression (SAS Institute 1992) was used to determine the model (P< 0.05) that best describes the rolationship between the number of pairs observed ‘mating and oviposition with environmental conditions and time of day. Mating, ovi- position, and light intensity data were logt0 (n + 1) transformed prior to analysis in ‘order to normalize the data. ‘Total numbers of pairs observed mating and egg clutches recorded during the experiment were tabulated and percent occurrence per day determined and re- TOMBERLIN and SHEPPARD: Mating and Oviposion of Black Soldier Flos 347 {gressed with latency after emergency to determine if a significant relationship (P < 0.08) occurred (SAS Institute 1992). Additionally, for mating and oviposition data, respectively, Least Significant Ditference test (SAS Institute 1992) was used following a significant F test (P < 0.05) to separate mean differences between percent to occur ‘each day. Percent data were arcsine transformed to normalize data prior to analysis. Influence of conspecific larvae on oviposition preference. In the greenhouse, {wo treatments, each consisting ofa §-L white bucket containing 300 g of Gainesville house fly larval media saturated with water, were examined for oviposition preference by black soldier fles, Two egg-collection units, as previously defined, were placed in ‘each bucket approximately 3.cm above the media. According to Booth and Sheppard (1984), black soldier flies prefer to oviposit in dry sites above the larval medium. Therefore, 40 to 50 mi of water were mixed dally with the media in each bucket to Inhibit soldier tly oviposition init. Media in one treatment was inoculated with approxi- ‘mately 500 5-d-old black soldier fly larvae 15 min prior to initiating the study, while the other had no larvae added. Paired treatments were placed side by side on 40-cm high ‘coment blocks at three sites separated by approximately 2 m in the greenhouse near Its center (Fig. 1). A white plastic sheet (12 em x 6 cm x 1 mm) was placed on top of teach bucket and covered approximately 75% of the opening to shade the oviposition sites from direct sunlight. Treatments were replaced every 8 d. Adult fies were reared land released into the greenhouse colony dally. Because of the inability to regulate ‘adult emergence, fly numbers in the colony were variable ranging from 600 to 2000 individuals on any given day. This variation in ly numbers was due to fluctuating daily fly emergence in the colony. The experiment was replicated 8 times from 26 July to 20 September 2000. Egg-collecting units from each treatment were replaced and the number of egg Clutches per treatment recorded daily. The data were log10 (n + 1) transformed prior to analysis (SAS Institute 1992), but did not meet the requirement of homogeneity of variance. Therefore, a sign non-parametric Hest was used to determine if significantly more cluiches were oviposited in media inoculated with or without soldier fly larvae ‘each day of the experiment (SAS Institute 1992) Results and Discussion Factors Influencing mating and oviposition. Stepwise rogression analysis in- dicated that environmental conditions significantly influenced time of mating (F = 164.8; of = 4, §; P< 0.0001) and oviposition (F = 238.4; df = 4, 5; P < 0.0001) (Table 1) Light intensity positively regressed with number of black soldier fies mating but not ‘ovipositing (Table 1). We observed 268 mating pairs during 53 of 134 observations made and none occurred when light intensity was less than 63 pmol m-*s~', In contrast, 75% of the mating pairs occurred when ight intensity was greater than 200 mol m”5-', which was recorded during 60% of the observations that had mating ‘occur. Additionally, approximately six mating pairs were observed per observation ‘when light intensity exceeded 200 mol m”#s~', which was 60% greater than that observed when light intensity was below that value. Time of day negatively regressed with mating indicating mating tended to occur more frequently early in the day (before 1800 h) and decreased as the day progressed. While developing a method for maintaining a black soldier fly colony in a room ‘maintained at approximately 22°C and 60 to 70% RH it was determined that light source was important (D. C. S., unpubl data). Initially, a 40-watt Sylvania Gro Lux® 38 ‘J. Entomol. Sel. Val. 37, No.4 (2002) t Evaporative watr-cooling unit = 7 © a sites oor 2m door door fan unit aj Fig. 1. Diagram of the greenhouse (not to scale) used to house the black soldier tly Colony and to examine oviposition site finding behavior. Two treatments were paired at three sites. light (Osron Sy\vania nc., Danvers, MA) was used and then subsequent a 490-watt Pro Utralight Light System (Hyérofarm Inc, Petaluma, CA) as the light source, out mating was not observed with elther ight used and infertie eggs were oviposted (0... unpubl. data), which also demonstrates ight isnot important for solder ly oviposition. However, once a 60 x 90 cm window was placed in the wall of the room thereby exposing the soir fes directly to sunigh, mating was observed and con- sequent frlized oggs deposited ‘Athough visible ight postvaly regressed with percentage of adults to mate, it might not be the primary variable regulating this behavior. The eyes of male black Solder es might cue in on spectic wavelengths in sunlight ther than those mea- Suredin our experiment. The absence of these other wavelengths inthe artificial ights described previously might explain why mating did not occur and infrtie eggs were deposited. The abily of other insects to detect wavelengths of ight not visible to humans has been documented. Males of the black fly, Cnephia dacotensis (Dyar and ‘TOMBERLIN and SHEPPARD: Mating and Ovipociton of Black Soldier Fes 949, Table 1. Regression equations for black soldier fly mating and oviposition response with temperature, humidity light intensity, time of day, l tency after emergence for individuals maintained in a 1.5 x 1.5.x 3 m nylon cage placed in a greenhouse in Tifton, GA ‘Number per ‘observation period Equation of fited response mating 51 0.01(h) + 0.31(ogtOfL + 1); 1? =0.49; P-<0.0001 oviposition __y = -0.78 + 0.01(h) ~ 0.01(hum) + 0.00; r# = 0.58; P< 0.0001 Percent" per day mating {Y= ~570.33 + 1006.40(%) ~ 530.3864) + 112.010) — 830) 20.99; P<0.0001 oviposition —_y = -987.2 + 789.04(x) ~ 631.89(x") + 143.15(2%) - 13.03(«"); # =0,99; P< 0.0001 * Porcnt data arsine warstormed prior fo analy, time of day: L, ght intent (ure = hum, num temperature; x day ater emergence ‘Shannon) (Diptera: Simulidae), are dependent on sunlight to locate mates (Mciver and O'Grady 1987). Specifically, their ommatidia are specialized for detection of Ultraviolet light (Gates 1980). Therefore, in order to better understand the biology of the black soldier fy, additional research is needed to determine which parts of the light spectrum are Influencing its mating behavior. During our experiment 263 egg clutches were collected during 58 of the 134 intervals between observations and temperature and humidity were determined to positively regressed with clutches oviposited. All clutches were deposited when the temperature was greater than 26°C. As mentioned above, the black soldier fl flour- [shes during warm temperatures and has a known distribution throughout the tropic land warm temperate regions. However, the lower temperature limits for black soldier fly activity are not known only that a colony can be maintained at 22°C (D. C. S., ‘unpubl. data). Additionally, unlike mating, oviposition positively regressed with obser- vation period (time of day) with more clutches deposited later in the day. Humidity positively regressed with oviposition (Table 1). Eighty percent of the clutches were deposited when humidity exceeded 60%, which was recorded during 75% of the observations when oviposition occurred. Additionally, approximately 5 clutches were laid per interval between observations when the humidity exceeded 60%, which was 40% greator than that recorded during lower humidity levels. Hu- midity is known to affect oviposition of other insect species. Canyon et al. (1999) determined that low humidity in association with food significantly delayed Aedes ‘0gypii (L) (Diptera: Culicidae) oviposition. Christopher (1960) suggested this delay is an advantage because eggs deposited during periods of low humidity are suscep- tible to desiccation. This explanation might also be true in the case of the black soldier ‘ly, which is active during the drier months in the southeastern United States (Shep- pard et al. 1994), Itis evident from the stepwise regression analysis (SAS Institute 1992) of the data, 350 J. Entomol. Sc. Vol 87, No.4 (2002) that mating and oviposition are not a linear function of latency after emergence. Models simpler than the selected fourth-degree polynomial equation (Table 1) were not significant (P < 0.05) and had lower Fé values. During the experiment, mating and. ‘oviposition were primarily restricted to one day each, which ware explained by the ‘curvilinear nature of the selected models. Sixty-nine percent of mating occurred 2 4, ‘and 72% of oviposition 4 4, post-emergence (Table 2) Early mating and oviposition by the black soldier fly might be due to several biological factors. Black soldier fly adults provided water, but not food, have short lives (10 to 14 d) (Tombertin et al. 2002), but are still able to reproduce in a colony (Sheppard et al. 2002). Itis hypothesized that adults in the wild may not need to feed but rely on energy stored in thelr fat body during the larval stage (Tomberlin ot a £2002), which may explain their shor life span. Prepupae collected from the field are approximately 35% fat and 42% protein dry matter (Newton et al. 1977). In contrast, hhouse fly pupae are approximately 9% (Teotia and Miller 1974) to 15% fat (Calvert et al, 1969), and resulting adults have to feed in order to reproduce. Additionally, Tomberiin et al. (2002) dissected virgin and mated black soidier fly females and {determined that oocytes were not present until 2 d after emergence and completely formed eggs 2 d after mating. Individuals dissected 3 d after ovipositing contained no Visible fat or developing ovaries (Tomberlin et al. 2002). Accordingly, individuals collected from the wild typically die after depositing their egg clutch (D. C. S., unpubl

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